Sequestration budget cuts would be across-the-board in Houston, county

Like a hurricane churning across the Gulf of Mexico, the looming federal sequestration threatens everything in its path. If the deep and automatic federal budget cuts actually take place starting Friday, there will be damage somewhere, perhaps a lot of somewheres.

In Houston and elsewhere, airport lines could grow and flights be canceled. Passport lines may stretch even longer out the door. Criminal investigations could move at a slower pace. And federal housing vouchers might not be issued, leaving low-income residents and their landlords in a frightening limbo.

The broad cuts designed under the umbrella of sequestration were intended by Congress and President Barack Obama to create such a severe alternative to bipartisan compromise that it would force lawmakers to come up with a better budget solution. So far, no such luck.

"We all agree that we need to cut unnecessary waste in the federal budget and streamline operations, but sequestration isn't the way to manage government spending," said Houston Congressman Gene Green, a Democrat. "It's like taking a hatchet to surgery instead of a scalpel. I'm hoping leadership resolves their differences before the eleventh hour."

Ted Cruz, the freshman GOP senator from Texas, said in Houston last week that he saw little hope that a deal would be reached.

"There is a very substantial likelihood that the sequester will go into effect," said Cruz, who blamed Obama's unwillingness to embrace other cuts. "I am hopeful that if it does … it will result in some compromises."

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Some possible cuts in Texas

According to White House estimates released Sunday, the sequestration could include these cuts this year in Texas:

$274.8 million: in military pay to 52,000 civilian Department of Defense employees who would be furloughed

$51 million: for about 620 teachers, aides and staff who help children with disabilities

$8.5 million: for clean water and air quality efforts, as well as pollution prevention from pesticides and hazardous waste

$6.8 million: to help prevent and treat substance abuse, resulting in around 2,800 fewer admissions to substance abuse programs

$1.1 million: in grants that support law enforcement, prosecution and courts, crime prevention, corrections, drug treatment and enforcement, and crime victim and witness initiatives.

A statement from the White House Sunday said: "The President is willing to compromise, but on behalf the middle class he cannot accept a deal that undercuts their economic security."

Obama has a plan to reduce the deficit by more than $4 trillion.

Because the cuts are across-the-board, there is little order or sense to what will be affected. Most agencies and programs would see cuts in the range of 8 to 10 percent, though some things are exempted, such as food stamps, college loan grants and the school lunch program.

'Devastating blow'

Experts say the effect will be gradual in many cases. A quick political resolution would see minimal disruption. Should the impasse continue, the cuts will be seen and felt in scores of different places, from neighborhood Head Start programs to the world-renowned Texas Medical Center, where $652 million of federal National Institutes of Health grant money comes in every year for medical research.

"We don't know how it's going to play out, but it could be a devastating blow," said Dr. Robert Robbins, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center Corporation. "We are talking hundreds of grants a year. We are very concerned about this, needless to say."

Johnson Space Center already has suffered cutbacks from the end of the space shuttle program and a hiatus in human spaceflight. Now it could see an estimated 5,600 jobs affected, with other space centers across the nation facing a similar scenario.

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"These damaging cuts would slash roughly 5 percent from the agency's current annual budget during the remaining seven months of the 2013 fiscal year, a loss of about $726 million from the president's budget request," NASA said in a statement.

In some instances, the effect of sequestration cuts could be noticed right away. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned that air travelers will encounter longer lines, canceled flights and shuttered airports in some cases, if Congress fails to act before the deadline. In preparing to reduce its expenditures by $600 million, LaHood said he will begin to furlough 47,000 employees for approximately one day per pay period through September.

A report prepared by the Texas House in January found:

- Texas would be one of the most severely affected by job losses, standing to lose almost 99,000 defense jobs and 60,500 non-defense jobs, putting the state third behind California and Virginia with the top job losses per state.

- The Texas Education Agency's estimated reduction of $517.6 million is the most significant agency cut. The Houston Independent School District has estimated a possible loss of $12 million, much of it aimed at low-income students.

- The University of Texas system predicts that cuts to research could total from $114 million to $123 million annually across all institutions.

- Texas Department of Transportation stands to lose up to $50 million of the $3 billion it normally receives, based on estimates. Road building and transit projects eventually will face money woes, but sequestration's effects won't be immediate, and the agency is awaiting clarity from federal officials before making any changes to upcoming projects. Major transit projects, meanwhile, are unlikely to suffer at all.

Defense cuts were "especially concerning" to the House committee that looked at the impact. Texas is home to 15 active-duty military installations. Sequestration cuts would affect not just active duty military but also civilian employees and thousands of contractors and suppliers in the state as well as the Texas National Guard.

Eviction threat

Texas cities, likewise, face daunting cutbacks in numerous areas. More than 900 families in the Houston Housing Authority's rental voucher program, for example, could be at risk of eviction if the cuts come down, said CEO Tory Gunsolley, who noted that the city covers 70 percent or more of their rent. Also slashed would be funding for homeless families, emergency shelters and housing for those with AIDS.

"At this point you're cutting into bone," Gunsolley said.

Counties, too, will face tough decisions. Nonprofit and community groups rely on Harris County's Community Services Department for program funding, which is awarded in October. Each funding letter reminds the recipient that if HUD funding is cut, their funding will drop, too, said director David Turkel.